Did John McCain Lie About His P.O.W Record?

Angelina Jordan – What a Diff’rence a Day Makes – Singapore TV – 2015

Donald Trump is the first alpha male to run for president since L.B.J., but his opponents think it’s clever to claim that he’s “scared” of Fox News Channel’s Megyn Kelly because he’s said he’s skipping this week’s Republican debate. This is like attacking 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney for being a libertine — or President Bill Clinton for being boring.

In addition to being the only candidate who will build a wall and deport illegals, apparently Trump is the only candidate who knows how to land a punch.

Whenever you hear someone say Trump is boycotting the debate because of Kelly, remember that he didn’t pull out until Fox issued a juvenile press release, saying it had heard from “a secret back channel that the Ayatollah and Putin both intend to treat Donald Trump unfairly” and “a nefarious source tells us that Trump has his own secret plan to replace the Cabinet with his Twitter followers.”

Wow — where did Trump ever get the idea that Fox was treating him badly?

Fox has made a habit of insulting Trump — provided he’s not there to respond. After the first debate — which, incidentally, all the polls say Trump won — Fox let it be known that the moderators had been prepared to forcibly remove Trump from the debate if he failed to follow the rules. Brett Baier even revealed their cute little speech before they would escort him to the elevator: “We don’t want to have to escort you to the elevator outside this boardroom. But we’re locked and loaded.”

Trump has gotten along well enough with bankers, unions, mafia dons and New York City bureaucrats to make himself a billionaire. Why him? Why not Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas)? And why leak it after it was obviously not necessary?

It’s true that Trump has focused his complaints about Fox News’s coverage of him on the network’s star anchor, Kelly. I assume he’s using Kelly as a cat’s paw for an attack against the entire Rupert Murdoch enterprise, which is implacably pro-open borders, pro-amnesty and, consequently, anti-Trump.

No one thinks Kelly was up in her office alone, furiously scribbling her questions for Trump. Before that first debate, there were stories all over about the whole Fox News team working on the debate questions.

But most people don’t know who Murdoch is. Kelly is a star. By attacking her, Trump anathematizes the entire, pro-amnesty network.

One of the biggest problems facing the nation is that viewers think of Fox as the “conservative” network. If NBC or ABC were this spiteful to Trump, everyone would see it for what it is: political bias. Your enemies can never hurt you; only your “friends” can.

Fox News’s bias is more insidious. The hosts avoid stridently attacking Trump. You simply never hear from any pro-Trump guests — unless they’re completely ineffective. Immigration-opponents have been aggressively shut out — just as they were when Mr. Amnesty John McCain was running for president in 2008; when the Senate was debating Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-Fla.) amnesty bill in 2013; and when congressional Republicans were trying to defund President Obama’s executive amnesty last year.

Are you seeing the pattern? When it comes to immigration, Fox News is indistinguishable from George Soros.

After each of the six debates, Fox News commentators, hosts, analysts, focus groups and body language experts all crapped on Trump and proclaimed pro-amnesty Rubio “the winner.” (By the fourth debate, I began playing “Carnac the Magnificent” on Twitter, predicting “Marco Rubio” to the question, “Who will Fox News claim won the debate?”)

Then all the polls would come out showing Trump the resounding winner.

But with every other news outlet screaming that Fox News is the extreme right-wing network, most Fox viewers are completely clueless. Surely, Fox News is giving us the best anti-immigration case you’re going to find anywhere, since Fox News is “our” network.

For the “conservative” network to be pro-open borders is like secretly switching a diabetic’s insulin with sugar. The false labeling is lethal. Millions of people watch Fox News and think they’re getting the conservative antidote, when in fact the open borders corporatists have found a new way to package their open borders poison.

One of the hardest things to notice is what you’re not being told. Immigration is the issue shaking up this entire election and driving Trump to the top of the polls. But at Fox News, immigration is Issue No. 22 — after Iran, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Benghazi, Hillary Clinton’s emails, ISIS, ISIS, ISIS, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Export-Import Bank, entitlements reform, ISIS and everything else.

This week, we found out that Fox News plans to have “YouTube stars” at this week’s debate asking regular, ordinary man-on-the-street questions that are on the mind of every Republican primary voter. One of the “YouTube stars” is an illegal alien. Another is an anti-Trump Muslim.

You won’t read about Fox News’s open-borders philosophy in National Review. You won’t hear about it on almost any “conservative” webpages, magazines, radio shows, Twitter feeds or blogs. Fox News is the only game in town for conservative commentators and politicians. That’s why no other candidate would dare cross Fox.

It took the first alpha male running for president in half a century to stand up to the Fox cartel on “conservative” opinion. Viewers beware: The only “conservative” opinion allowed on Fox News involves dissolving the nation’s borders.

Judging by Donald Trump’s astonishing rise in the polls, any cable network that took America’s side on immigration would end the Fox News monopoly — and make America great again.

The real reason Donald Trump is skipping tonight’s Fox News debate has nothing to do with Megyn Kelly

Donald Trump would like you to think that he’s taking a pass on Thursday’s seventh Republican presidential debate because moderator Megyn Kelly treated him shabbily in the last Fox News debate or because the network put out a snarky statement disparaging him when it learned he was thinking about bagging the debate.

For Trump then another debate this close to the Iowa caucuses has almost no upside. His attacks on Ted Cruz are working. All of the second tier candidates are either attacking each other or Cruz. Thousands of people are coming to every one of his rallies — including the one he will hold tonight in Iowa while his rivals debate. He is getting wall-to-wall media coverage and will continue to do so.

What Trump wants to do then is run out the clock. Take as few risks as possible between now and Monday. He and his campaign know that if he wins the Iowa caucuses, he will almost certainly cruise in the New Hampshire primary eight days later. Win those first two states and Trump starts to look (even more) like a juggernaut for the Republican nomination.

That’s why Trump isn’t debating tonight. The rest is just a smokescreen.

5 things to watch for in the GOP debate, even without Donald Trump

By Lisa Mascaro
The uproar caused by Donald Trump’s decision to skip Thursday’s GOP debate throws a new level of uncertainty into what was already expected to be a volatile last stand in Iowa before next week’s caucuses.

Trump is expected to loom large, even if he keeps his promise to ditch the event for his own competing one, a fundraiser for veterans. Expect the candidates to talk about him early and often — bashing him for the failure to show up, but debating the very issues he has made dominant: immigration, the fight against Islamic State terrorists, making the country great again.

Here are five things to watch for, even without Trump (and assuming no last-minute change of his mind):

Trump’s super-sized presence, in absentia
Trump says he’s skipping the debate because Fox News has treated him unfairly, mocking him over his complaints about anchor Megyn Kelly, who will be one of the moderators.

But even in his absence, Trump will command his typical oversize presence, which will be both a positive and negative for the front-runner.

Without being there to defend himself, Trump becomes an easy mark. Look for open season on the billionaire, with Trump-bashing over the issues, the no-show — which may not please Iowans’ strong work ethic — and for avoiding questions from a woman.

At the same time, watch for Trump to respond, either from his own event or on Twitter, where he can be expected to unleash one of his trademark tweet storms.

One thing Trump will not likely be: quiet.

Everyone is likely to dog-pile on Trump — and Cruz
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) briefly overcame Trump for the No. 1 spot in Iowa polls, sparking a bitter fight between the two. New questions about Trump’s marital infidelity and past support of abortion are easy attack lines, especially as Cruz tries to peel away evangelical support.

But Cruz won’t have the stage to himself, even if he gets the center podium.

Expect Cruz, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida — the next-closest rival — and the others to pile on Trump and to fight it out over national security, immigration, taxes, healthcare and who is the best-prepared and most conservative leader.

Rubio’s shift from optimist to pessimist, and back again
Hoping for a strong third-place finish in Iowa, Rubio has shelved his sunny optimism for a tougher campaign-trail message. Rubio wants Iowans to see him as commander-in-chief potential. But gloom-and-doom hasn’t been his strong suit. Watch for Rubio to return to a more upbeat closing argument to remind voters why he was once touted as the GOP’s best hope.

Bush needs a rationale; Christie needs a boost
This year of the outsider has not been a good one for the governors running for president. Look for former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who is not known for throwing punches, to square his shoulders and give voters a reason to get behind his campaign. Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey has been faring better in polls in New Hampshire than Iowa. But Christie needs to bolster his chances there by not losing badly in the Hawkeye State. Expect the plain-spoken Christie to mix it up to score some points.

Clinton looms large, too
Because this is the final debate before the Iowa caucuses Monday, the candidates will also try to convince voters that they are best suited to defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton. The former secretary of State has always loomed large over the GOP debates. Expect lots of attacks on Democrats, including Clinton and rival Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, as Republicans try to move past the bitter primary season toward the general election.